Road rail or form



June 17, 1 930.

G. H. MILLER Feb. 10, 1928 Patented June 17, 1930 means .FFEQE GEORGE H. MILLER, OF MILWAUKEE, EVISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO METAL FORMS COR- PORATION, OF IIITLVIAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN ROAD RAIL OR FORM Application filed February 10, 1928. Serial No. 253,413.

The now known road rails or forms commonly employed in the construction of concrete roads usually comprise a bearing surface on which a finishing machine is adapted to operate and two web members supporting said bearing surface, one of the web members constituting a form for the concrete. The construction also includes means for holding the road rail in position in the form of conventional stake boxes.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a road rail or form of simplified construction heretofore unattained in this art. In carrying out this idea the bearing surface on which the finishing machine operates is supported by only one web member which also functions as a form for the concrete deposited on the subgrade, additional support being supplied by the stake boxes included in the rail construction.

More specifically, a road rail or form made in accordance with my invention comprises a blanl: of metal bent to provide a ground engaging flange, an upstanding web, and a slightly arcuate bearing surface terminating in a short depending flange. Stake boxes are positioned so that they are positively connected w th the ground engaging flange and the upstanding web, while the short depending flange on the bearing surface bears against the top of the stake boxes whereby they are supported. By arranging the parts so that the depending flange aforesaid is substantial- 1y perpendicular with the top of the stake box no connecting means between these elements needs be provided. From the foregoing, it will be apparent that this invention provides a road rail or form in which simplicit-y has been attained to the highest possible degree, and which is further characterized by the ease of manufacture, assembly, and replacement of the various parts of the structure.

Further and more detailed objects and advantages will in part become apparent and in part be hereinafter stated as the description of the invention proceeds.

For a full and more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a portion of a rail provided for by this invention, together with a stake box.

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken about on the plane indicated by the line 22 of Figure 1, a stake box being shown in elevation.

Figure 3 is a detailed showing in perspective, of a stake box that is adapted to cooperate with the new type of rail.

While a preferred form of the invention is herein set forth, it is to be clearly understood that I am not to be limited to the exact construction illustrated and described, because various modifications of these details may be provided in putting the invention into practice Within the purview of the appended claims.

Throughout various figures of the drawings like reference characters denote correspond ing parts. 7

A portion of my novel road rail or form is shown in Figure 1 of the drawings and designated generally by the reference character A. The rail A may be made from any preferred material such as sheet metal, and comprises the bottom or ground engaging flange 1, an upstanding web 2, a slightly arcuate bearing surface 3, and depending flange l. Obviously, bending operations may be availed of to provide the components just described. The web 2 not only functions to support the bearing surface 3 on which a finishing machine is adapted to operate, but also acts as a form for the concrete deposited on the subgrade.

Referring more particularly to Figure 3, a stake box that is peculiarly adapted for cooperation with rail A comprises side pieces integrally connected by a top portion 6. The box is preferably made from the same material as the rail A and again bending and stamping operations may be availed of for fashioning the box into its proper shape from an unfinished blank. Each of the side pieces 5 has a horizontal flange 7 which is affixed to the bottom flange 1 of the rail through any suitable fastening medium such as rivets 8, and a vertically extending flange 9 which is fastened to the web 2 in any approved fashion as by rivets 10 or I may avail of the keyhole construction clearly illustrated and described in the application of. G. H. Miller, Serial No. 213,887 filed August 18,

1927, which issued as Patent 1,727,516 on September'lO, 1929.

The sides 5 are provided with openings 11 which are adapted to receive a wedge 12 for a purpose to be hereinafter morefully set out; The top 6 of the stake box also has an opening 13 therein which should be in substantial alignment with an opening 14 in the bottom flange 1 when the box is mounted on the rail. A stake 15 passes through the openings 13 and 14 positively'and rigidly holding the rail in position on the ground.

It will be apparent from the drawings that the depending flange 4 bears against the top 6 of the stake box, whereby it is properly supported so that itmay sustain the weight ofthe finishing machine operating on the bearing surface 3. After the stake 15 has been passed through the openings 13 and 14, a rigid connection between the stake and the box may be afforded by passing the wedge 12 through the openings 11;

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new-and desire to secure by Letters Patent in the United States, is

1. In a road rail or form construction of the class described, the combination, with a rail having a short depending flange, of a stake box having a flat surface supported by substantially perpendicular side members, which surface isin a right-angular relationship with the depending flange of'the rail and in engagement therewith, whereby the stake box provides a support for said flange without necessitating" a connection between theb'ox and the flange,

2. Road rail or form construction of the class described, comprising, in combination,

a rail or form consisting of a ground engaging flange, an upstanding web, a bearing surface and a comparatively short vertically depending flange on" one side of the bearing surface, and a stake box of substantially U- shape arranged on the ground flange of the end disposed beneath said depending flange having a flat horizontal surface in engagement with and substantially perpendicular to the depending flange, whereby the stake box constitutes a support for the bearing surface without necessitating the creation of a connection between the box and flange.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

GEORGE H. MILLER. 

